Megilat Esther (The Scroll of Esther) in Ottava Rima

Mordechai Dato

16th Century

In those days, a terrible thing happened,
for two officials of the king committed an offence
against their master, and with a flask,
they plotted to poison the king without delay.
Mordecai, who had remained close to them,
discovered the plot and said to himself: “The king
must know of it.” And he warned his lovely cousin
who went into the room of…
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Creator Bio

Mordechai Dato

1525–1591/1601

The Italian kabbalist Mordechai Dato composed numerous piyyutim (liturgical poems) and Judeo-Italian prayers. Some survived in manuscript, and others were printed in Ashmoret ha-boker (Dawn Watching; Venice, 1720/21) by Aaron Berekhiah of Modena. In addition, Dato wrote biblical commentaries and sermons, which likewise survived in manuscript form, as did his letters on kabbalistic and halakhic matters. Igeret levanon (Letter of Lebanon), by his son, is an account of Dato’s visit to Safed. Dato’s Megilat Esther (The Scroll of Esther) in Ottava Rima is a verse retelling—in Judeo-Italian and therefore more accessible to female readers—of the biblical story of Esther. This story was popular among New Christians, presumably because its heroine was compelled to dissimulate her religious identity; it also provided a model for diaspora Jews in difficult times, as it promised eventual divine redemption.

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